


You're The Key To My Peace Of Mind

by septemberhour



Series: i love you and that's all i really know [1]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Fighting, Fluff, Future Fic, Mileven, but mike will always love her, el lets her worries get the best of her, love love love, mike and el are engaged, mike's her home and always will be, snuggles, stranger things, theyre the cutest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-07-07 18:42:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15914055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/septemberhour/pseuds/septemberhour
Summary: He'd always be her home.





	You're The Key To My Peace Of Mind

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm gonna start a series of Mike and Eleven one shots, because I love them and love writing them. First work we have a mileven fight and make up 'cause I'm a sucker for it and yeahhhhhhhhhh.

Home.

Although she didn't know what the word meant until her 12th year, it was something she'd craved her whole life and found when she was 12, soaking wet, wearing nothing but a ginormous mustard shirt, three flashlights shoved in her face.

She found it in his eyes. The dark orbs that gave her comfort, love, stability.

She found it in the fort he built for her in his basement.

She found it in every movement he made, everything he did to reassure her, to comfort her, to care for her.

She found it in the way he danced around the kitchen singing ABBA, and how he would braid her hair in visits to the cabin.

She found it in his arms, in his lips, in his heart.

She found it in the snowflake necklace he presented to her at age 13.

She found it in the locket he gave her at age 17.

And she found it in the diamond ring he used to ask her a very big question at age 23.

 

She stared at the ring now, twirling it around her finger. Dried tear tracks streaked her cheeks and she leaned against the couch, shifting uncomfortably on the floor and sighing in despair.

She shouldn't have brought it up. She should've guessed it would lead to an argument, her crying and yelling, him backing away as she reached out to him, him saying softly _"don't you trust me?"_ and _"why would you ever think for a minute we'll be like my parents?"_

But she couldn't keep it in. It had been gnawing at her insides since Thanksgiving, and it was now early February. She'd brought it up during dinner, their plates of spaghetti now growing cold in the hour he'd been gone.

It had started at the Thanksgiving table. The Wheeler house had lost all its homely-ness ever since Karen and Ted had become less like a married couple and more like enemies forced to live together. Their divorce had been announced that night. It wasn't exactly a surprise. Everyone had just kinda nodded, asking about the technicalities, who would get the house and custody of Holly, blah, blah, blah.

But El was a Psychology major, and an over thinker. Ever since she was a kid, she was prone to over thinking and stressing about things, (from what punishment Papa would give her, and eventually turning into stuff like finishing her assignments on time and getting 100% on her math quiz) and from her hours of psychology study she knew that it was more likely for children from broken homes future relationships to fail, and it was safe to say that neither Mike or El's homes had been happy, with Mike's having constant fighting and a lack of love, and El's being filled with abuse and sorrow. Neither of them had an example of a healthy, loving relationship.

She knew it was stupid to worry about this. This was her and him. _Mike and Eleven._ They were soulmates, they had been since they were twelve, destined to be together, to weather every storm and come out the other end victorious. She wanted to be with him for the rest of her life, until they were old and grey and having to use walking sticks and hearing aids.

But her over thinking tendencies got the better of her. She figured Mike would understand? Maybe? He'd supported her her whole life, been the voice of reason through all her crazy, the person who she went to. He listened to every single one of her doubts and dark thoughts, and he supported her, gave her clarity. She loved him unconditionally, forever.

He was talking about a new computer program he was working with when she said it. It just kinda burst out, like word vomit.

"Do you ever worry about us?"

His face quickly darkened, eyes narrowing and walls going up.

"What?" His voice was suggestive, as if he was giving her the opportunity to spin this in a positive way.

"It's just-" She gathered the courage to continue. "Your parents. They're..... broken. And- and so am I, and you. Statistically, it's way more likely for us to..... fall apart too."

Looking up and seeing his face was a massive punch to the gut. Regret immediately flooded her as he stood up, coming to kneel beside her.

"I love you, El. I thought you knew that. I thought you knew I would do anything, _anything,_ for you?" His voice came out small and broken, and his eyes searched her face for any sign this was some kind of sick joke.

He sighed and stood, grabbing his coat.

El went into autopilot, running over to him. _How could you?!_ She screamed at herself. _You fucking idiot! You probably just threw away the best thing that's ever happened to you!_

"Mike!" She reached out to grab his arm, but he just backed up, heartbreak in his eyes.

"Don't you trust me?"

She wished he'd yell, scream, break things. Anything was better than the look on his face right then.

"Why would you ever think for a minute we'll be like my parents?"

The words felt like being stabbed in the heart. _How could she do this? Think that?_

"Mike, I'm sorry! I'm an idiot, I-"

"I need time to think."

They were the last words she heard before the front door closed and his footsteps retreated down the stairs.

She had wandered over to the living room, sobbing her heart out and crumbling to the floor, chiding herself for being so idiotic.

_He'll never marry you now._

\------------------------------                                                                                                  

Mike walked the streets of Chicago, a million and one thoughts going through his mind.

_Did she still love him? Did she still want to marry him? Was this another of her irrational worries, or something more serious?_

He wanted her, he loved her, he needed her. He silently cursed his stupid parents and their stupid marriage and their stupid fights for putting those thoughts in El's mind. Even after all these years she could still be impressionable, delicate, pliable.

His mind was made up in that moment. He turned around, his pace turning into a jog as he rushed to get back to their apartment.

In all the rare times they fought, it was usually screaming, slamming doors and rage, and then tears, consoling and forgiveness as they put the pieces back together again, as they talked it out.

\------------------------------                                                                                              

El was near sleep when she heard the front door creak open. She had since moved onto the couch, clutching onto a cushion. She tossed it aside as the love of her life's face came into view, still broken, but now with a softness.

 _"Mike."_ She sobbed.

He rushed over to her, instincts taking over as he gathered her into his arms and rocked her back and forth.

She continued to sob, her cries now muffled, her face buried in his chest, as he rocked her, rubbing her back. He was warm, and comforting, and she couldn't believe she had ever doubted their relationship, because right then, she found her home again.

"I'm so sorry Mike! I love you so, _so much._ You're my whole world and I'm such an idiot and I love you, and I'll always love you, and, and it was just an irrational worry and I-"

"El." His voice was soft, but now full of warmth, lacking the coldness it had the last time she heard it.

"I shouldn't have left. I should've handled it better. I love you-" He leaned out to cup her face, lifting her chin so she was looking him in the eyes. "- _I love you._ And I know now it was just an irrational worry, but I promise you, we'll never be my parents. Because even though we're both from broken families we have something neither of our homes had. We love each other. And that's all that matters El. No statistic could ever account for us."

She just nodded, and buried her face back in his chest, still crying.

He stood up, picking her up bridal style, and carrying her to their room.

He lay her down, crawling onto the bed himself. They settled in the blankets.

"C'mere." He mumbled quietly.

El sighed gratefully, folding into his embrace and snuggling into his chest, arms going around his waist, and his going around her waist. She looked up at him, the love and light of her life. He smiled softly at her, leaning down to capture her lips between his. She hummed contently against his mouth, and even after all these years, she still got those butterflies in her stomach.

They broke apart, Mike pressing a kiss to her forehead before settling back on the pillow, arms still wrapped tightly around the woman he loved so dearly.

She was grateful. So grateful. How the hell did she get so lucky to find someone who loved her unconditionally, through all of her stupid worries and their stupid fights, through all the years? She found someone who still wanted to marry her even after she let her fears get the best of her. She didn't deserve him, but she was going to treasure and love him with every fiber of her being for the rest of her days. And he would do the same.

They loved each other.

He'd always be her home.

 

 

 


End file.
